Nesting

Day Seventy – Thursday

Tomorrow it will be seventy-one days since we found the lump in my breast. I’ve seen doctors, made decisions, contemplated all that is and could be, and made peace with our decisions.

Today, I am nesting. Nesting is that totally natural, sort of unnatural phenomenon that women undergo just before they have a baby. Household chores that have been put off since the beginning of the pregnancy are finished, projects are either put away for a day far in the future or finished, and things that we never even dreamed should be done take on a sense of urgency. We get this incredible surge of energy and strength so we can accomplish so much in so little time. When I was about to deliver my first child, I was living with my parents, but still found the sudden need to clean and straighten. With my second child, I actually cleaned the baseboards. It’s almost like preparing the house for a new visitor and you want to put your best foot forward.

In my case, I want the house to be all clean when I leave in the morning so there is one less thing on my mind. Some may say that having a clean house is not that important, but before any huge change in a woman’s life, it becomes very important. A woman I knew said that her house caught on fire while she was at work and all she could think about was the fact that she hadn’t made her bed that morning. Maybe it’s just a coping mechanism. I don’t know.

I have had a sudden surge of energy that has helped me accomplish a lot of things in the last two days.  I’ve…

made six pieces of jewelry. Two of them are for birthday presents that have to be mailed today and the rest are for future gift giving.

finished a baby blanket for my great nephew in Spain. I have to mail that today also.

washed all the sheets and made all the beds.

cleaned all the floors.

changed all the towels.

done six loads of laundry and washed my mastectomy camisole by hand (anyone who knows me well, knows that I wash nothing by hand).

cleaned the refrigerator and made a shopping list. I will go shopping today while Randy takes a much needed nap.

laid out my clothes to wear tomorrow.

transferred money to pay the surgery center bill.

programmed the GPS on the Jeep to take us to the surgery center.

filled up the Jeep with gas.

And washed the dog’s bed.

 I want to think about nothing but recuperation when I get home. Randy can handle the cooking and he’ll probably do it better than I do.

After tomorrow, our world will change yet again. We will handle it as we always do, with love and humor. We’ll snuggle more, touch each other more, ask each other how we are feeling, and slowly I’ll recover to take on the next set of issues.

For now, my nesting is almost done and I’m ready to rest for a few days. Call me, stop by, tell Randy he can take a break and sit with me for a while. We would both really like that.

Peace,

Tracy